Help with a few new Home Network questions

Hi,

Currently having the house pulled apart and a new extension on the back. Taking the opportunity to run CAT6 through most of the house and add a node 0.

There will be around 22 CAT6 cables feeding back to node 0 from 8 rooms. Mostly will be used for streaming content to TV, possibly Sky Q over ethernet and general PC/Tablet/Phone browsing. Also thinking of adding in 2 or 3 POE wireless access points and maybe a POE camera.

Got a few questions I'm not 100% sure on...

1) Thoughts on if to go for an unmanaged / smart / managed switch? I was thinking unmanaged but if i go for a 48 port switch most seen to be managed.

2) If i've got a handful of POE devices is it best to go for a main none POE switch for data and then a small 8 port POE switch in addition (any implications for this approach?)

3) Whats the best way to connect multiple switched.... ive got a couple of desktop 5 port switches in a few of the rooms. Should I run these back and plug into the router or the switch at node 0 - does it make much difference?

Many thanks in advance. I'm sure I'll have a few more questions before We're all done

1. If all 22 cables are going to have 1 or more devices on them at the same time, then a managed switch once initial configuration is done may be more useful long term. Particularly in scenarios where you have a Home Cinema and stream from a local NAS. In scenarios where its just every device connecting to one Internet router then managed may be less of an issue, but depending on the speed of your broadband connection you may need to consider traffic management somewhere so that TV viewing is not killed by someone doing a 2 GB software update download on a laptop. So for example if the PoE camera is internet streaming you need to ensure this does not swamp the upstream of the broadband connection.

2. Not sure on the PoE side as never worked with it beyond 1 device at a time.

3. Unless hosting a big gamers conference, secondary switches are fine, and if doing structured cabling the usual thing is to try and eliminate as many as possible for neatness.

How many cabkes are going to each location? Just from experience, I would suggest two and where you main TV/PVR/MediaCentre is, consider four. You don't need to terminate all initially or have a switch capable of managing all - you can upgrade.

As for switch - managed 48 port or two identical 24s with the potential for a 10Gbps link.

Hi & thanks - we've got 2 runs planned to each of the minor locations (kitchen, Bedrooms etc) and 4 going to the 2 rooms with the main AV kit.

Had a quick search for the switch and came up with the ...

TP-LINK T1600G-52TS JetStream 48-Port Gigabit Smart Switch -

or maybe this 24 port with POE.... TP-LINK TL-SG3424P JetStream 24 Port Gigabit

The 48 port with POEs look to be £650 + so may go with the 48 none POE above and just add in a 8 port POE switch when needed to save a few £.

Don't know about the TP-Link switches and warranty &c.

I have Linksys/Cisco SRW2024 which has been running non-stop for several years and has a lifetime warranty. They may be more expensive however, sometimes that can be a benefit.

Have a look for used SRW-2048 and see what that are priced at ... and check with Cisco to see if te warranty is transferable.